To Breathe Together

David Sutherland

To Breathe Together

Steal through morning's haze Palms open over dew and flora As petals in your hands bloom sepal On crown of Dandelion, Marigold, Rose,

Tease a strand of your hair into the Spiraled cornute, the axis of some Mythical day spent in this Fall of Cerise and brass and scarlet, Let the early hyacinth fill

The smalls of your face And the thick haired peony With thick lips and tongues Wink into empty space.

And the procession meets you, nonpareil, Holds you up in festival lights as An aurora of smiles trails a caravan Of daylilies in your eyes then departs to Its narrow strip of matted soil.

Let me plant enough to fill this field Enough to blow these cattails of pixie moss Over open ground. Enough for a journey ends On dry stem and dream. Within this fibrous Root of your heart lead me captive for a time, Perennial at your season's turn, turn Now, together, breathe.